Liverpool will be affected by a significant alteration to the Africa Cup of Nations.

Another midseason event will have a significant impact on Liverpool in 2023–24 after a significant modification to the Africa Cup of Nations schedule was officially announced.

Last year, the AFCON was held in the middle of the season because Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, and Naby Keita had to leave for the competition and miss games for Liverpool.

Fortunately, the Reds were able to thrive without their African trio thanks in large part to the immediate impact of winter signing Luis Diaz. It was a setback the club had long known about.

This Cameroonian tournament was originally slated to take place in the summer of 2021, but due to a number of issues, notably the COVID-19 pandemic, it was ultimately moved to January and February of the following year.

Similar circumstances have since developed, with the 2023 AFCON currently officially scheduled to occur in the winter of 2024.

According to journalist Usher Komugisha, the tournament was moved due to “heavy rains” in the Ivory Coast during the summer. As a result, Liverpool will once again be without Salah and Keita by the halfway point of the 2023–24 season.

It will, therefore, bring a third consecutive campaign with a mid-season tournament, though this term will see the domestic calendar paused to accommodate the winter World Cup in Qatar.

There will be no such break in the Premier League for the AFCON, however, meaning it will be another season in which Jurgen Klopp will be required to plan without two key players.

Keita could, of course, not be a Liverpool player by that point, with the Guinean’s contract currently due to expire in 2023.

However, it is widely anticipated that Keita will sign a contract extension given that negotiations have continued in the wake of the disclosure of Salah’s new club-record contract worth upwards of £350,000 per week.

In the most recent AFCON, Salah and Mane faced off in the championship match, which Senegal won over Egypt. Throughout their journey, the two Liverpool players missed six games.